Only a Wannabe...

  Today was warm and sunny.  This was a nice change after the chilly, predawn walk so the old dog and I headed out to do a bit of yard work.  He chased squirrels at his leisurely pace (walking) while I helped Son remove the hurricane window coverings.  (Yep, those things were still up since Nate pushed through here.)  When we removed one off the east side of the house, a caterpillar came tumbling down.  Oops!  We had disturbed his nice hibernating spot! Well, not one to harm anything needlessly, I picked up the critter and moved it to the greenhouse.  There, it can snooze until it deems it safe enough to do its fantastic transformation into a moth.  Just so you will know..those fuzzies are not all soft and fluffy.  They are more prickly than anything but they do not harm you in any way, shape or form. The caterpillar snoozed the entire time I held it!

  The caterpillar was fuzzy black and red.  Although, these are quite often called "Woolly Bears" by folks around here, that is a false identification.  This critter might be woolly but it is not a true Woolly Bear.  That critter is the caterpillar of the Isabella Tiger Moth.  Mine is the caterpillar of a Giant Leopard Moth.  Which, in both cases, is rather odd when you think about it.  Why does a "bear" turn into a "cat"?  Go figure.  

  The Woolly Bear caterpillars have long been touted to predict the coming winter.  According to all studies, it does not.  Instead, it actually tells what the previous winter was like.  The red bands have something to do with how long the caterpillar was in that stage and not how cold it is going to get.  Which is sort of dumb for me to be explaining as my critter friend is not even the right caterpillar so probably cannot tell me anything about the weather from the previous winter or the upcoming one.  Still, the caterpillar was rescued, the window covers are down, Mr. PJ was a happy camper roaming the hillside and I am exhausted from standing on a ladder all day!  Fun times!